The Dragon and the Phoenix
by Starstrukkxxx
Summary: While everyone else is celebrating the downfall of BEGA, Tyson decides to go outside and clear his head instead of joining the party raging on at the dojo and Kai decides to join him. Slight TyKa.


**The Dragon and The Phoenix **

In retrospect, Tyson didn't understand why everyone always left. He understood they all had their own lives to lead, their own dreams to follow, dreams that more than likely did not involve him, but still the young fifteen year old wondered why.

He lay down next to the koi pond and stretched his legs as he stared into the distance trying to decide where he was going to go from here. He could hear the celebrations raging on at the dojo but Tyson didn't feel in the mood for celebrating.

Yes they'd saved the BBA from being dominated by the BEGA league, he and his friends had merged together once more and saved the sport of beyblade from being tainted by Boris Balcov and his minions, but still, celebrating was the furthest thing from his mind.

Hiro had returned, just to stab him in the back and betray him, leaving him for the BEGA team when he had been at his lowest point. Tyson couldn't understand, Hiro had left him, his big brother, so what was stopping everyone else from leaving again, and like Hiro, this time maybe they wouldn't come back.

Tyson couldn't deny it, he grew far too attached and trusted far too easily only to have his fiery spirit extinguished by every betrayal, every broken promise, it always took a long time to reignite that blazing passion that burned inside him, making him one of the best bladers the world had ever seen.

Tyson's musings were interrupted when he heard the soft thud of someone sitting on the ground next to him, "Hi Kai"

"Why are you out here? I thought you would be the most excited about the party out of all of us." The second teenager said his crimson eyes seemingly attempting to look right through the bluenette.

"I'm not really in a celebrating mood" Tyson replied his murky, midnight blue eyes staring into the distance. There was a silence between the two friends for a moment before Tyson spoke again. "Why don't I ever learn?"

"Learn what?" the other boy questioned, his two toned blue hair blowing gently in the late night breeze.

"To stop trusting people so easily" Tyson replied, turning his head to look at his Russian captain.

"Tyson, trusting people isn't a bad thing, it's a part of who you are, you always see the best in people, I'm living proof of that, anyone else would have given up on me almost instantly, you didn't, you stood by me through everything, no matter how many times I screwed up, you forgave me and I screwed up a lot, it's because of that you're the only person on this stupid, messed up planet I trust."

Tyson looked at Kai his midnight blue eyes staring at him in admiration, both at the kindness of his usually stoic captain's words and the fact that that was possibly the most Tyson had ever heard Kai speak since he'd met him.

"Thank you Kai, I needed that"

"Hn"

Tyson gave a weak laugh, "Just when I was starting to think we were getting somewhere" Kai allowed a small smirk to grace his features for a moment before Tyson spoke again.

"Why do you think Hiro left Kai?"

"Is that why you've been out here all night?" Kai questioned

"Among other things, but that's the main reason yes, I was stupid and naïve, I should've known he wasn't going to stay, no one ever does."

That caught Kai's attention. "Tyson, even if we leave, we're always going to come back"

Tyson shook his head, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes, "You'll come back, but Rei and Max I'm not so sure, if Hiro didn't come back then why would they? Kai, if Max and Rei leave again it will kill me, if you leave me again it will kill me at first, but after a while I'll be okay, and do you know why? Because when you leave I know you'll always come back, you've always been that constant thing in my life, the one thing I can always rely on."

"Tyse.." Kai didn't know what to say, he had no idea he meant that much to the younger bluenette. He saw Tyson's small frame shaking with supressed sobs, and wrapped his muscular arms around the blue eyed boy awkwardly, in an attempt to give his friend even a little bit of reassurance that he was never actually going to be alone.

"I'm really not good at this." Kai said in a whisper as he felt Tyson cling to him grateful for the comfort, "But I'm going to make you a promise, okay Ty, I want you to look at me" Kai didn't know why he was doing this and he knew he had a long way to go before he was even considered remotely caring, but it felt like the right thing to do at this particular moment in time. When Tyson looked up at him, staring him straight in the eyes with a blotchy, tear stained tanned face, looking the most vulnerable Kai had ever seen him look. It made Kai angry that Hiro could mess with Tyson so severely, making the usually confident, happy, go lucky teen a shell of what he once was.

So this was what caring felt like. Kai didn't know how he knew he cared since he'd never experienced the emotion before; he just knew that what he was feeling was foreign to him.

"I promise you Tyson, we won't be like Hiro we'll always come back." Kai said softly, Tyson buried his face in Kai's chest as tears poured down his tanned cheeks.

"Thank you" Tyson whispered Kai rubbed the smaller boys back gently.

"You're okay Ty, you're alright we're not going to do what Hiro did, I promise you Tyson."

"Please don't make promises you can't keep" Tyson said, his voice cracking as he pulled away from Kai's embrace. The tears had ceased now, but Tyson looked helpless, like the smallest thing could break him down into heart wrenching sobs once more.

"Tyson, I swear to you, I won't ever break that promise, never, I hate seeing you hurt, it's not right, you're supposed to be happy and cheerful and endearingly irritating." Tyson gave a choked laugh.

"Kai you actually sound like you care" Tyson said softly.

"To be honest with you Ty, I don't really know how it feels to care and I wish I did. I always thought that if you went through life without showing emotion, it would benefit you in the long run, that's what we were taught in the abbey if you showed emotion you were weak, that was it, it was all about winning nothing else was acceptable."

"Do you still believe that?" Tyson asked softly,

Kai seemed to contemplate it for a moment before shaking his head, "No, I don't, thanks to you. Tyson, you wear your heart on your sleeve and I always thought that that made you weak back when we first met, but now I know, showing your emotion, it only made you stronger, it meant you were putting every bit of yourself into that match, fighting with everything you have and that's what makes you so incredible."

"But Kai, you're just as good as me, if not even more so."

"If I hadn't met you, I never would have learned you helped me be the blader I am now."

"I guess we helped each other out then!" Tyson said softly "If it wasn't for you and your slave driving training sessions, I never would have learned endurance, patience; I don't think I've ever said this, but thank you Kai."

"I owe you thanks too, if it weren't for you, I-I probably would've turned out like my bastard of a grandfather."

"You wouldn't have Kai, even if we'd never met, you're nothing like him, the only thing that binds you to him is blood. Your mannerisms, your personality, they're so much different than his, you'd have never guess you were related at all"

Tyson didn't realize how much his last sentence had affected his friend until he saw the tearful smile aimed his way.

"You're the only one that's ever said that to me, everyone else, they tell me how much like him I am, all his colleagues, like it's the best thing I could ever hear." The Russian said with the most emotion Tyson had ever seen his usually aloof captain show.

"Well you should listen to me 'cause I know you best" Tyson said defiantly, sticking his nose in the air and receiving a small chuckle from his friend.

"I've never told anyone that" Kai said softly his crimson eyes shining with curiosity, wondering what had caused him to say it.

"Maybe you're finally opening up" The bluenette replied.

"I guess I am" Kai said softly, "Is it strange that I've never felt this emotion before?"

"What emotion Kai? Explain it to me!"

The older teen studied Tyson with curiosity before speaking. "I feel, I feel angry, angry that someone could hurt you so badly and just walk away without fixing it, without putting all the pieces they destroyed back together. It makes me - jeez Ty this is hard, why do people find it so easy to talk about stupid feelings!"

Tyson gave a small laugh, "They don't, but keep going Kai"

"Tyson I can't do this" Kai softly, "said Talking about how I feel isn't one of my strong points."

"I can tell" Tyson said dryly "But do you remember earlier, when you said you didn't know what caring was"

"mhmm"

"Well that's what you're feeling now. You really do care Kai."

"It's strange; I never thought I'd be capable of it."

"Well you are, and that's another thing that makes you nothing like your grandfather."

At Kai's small, genuine smile, Tyson knew he'd said the right thing. "Why don't we go inside, maybe it's finally time to celebrate." With those words, Tyson pushed himself to his feet and offered his hand to Kai, who much to Tyson's surprise, took it and let the younger boy pull him up.

Together, with a new, mutual understanding between them and both at a new level in their relationship, the two best friends walked leisurely back up to the dojo for some well needed celebration. They had a unique bond, in ancient Chinese mythology, the Dragon and the phoenix represented Yin and yang, complete opposites, but one was not complete without the other. Tyson and Kai could fight and argue from dusk to dawn, but in the long run, they couldn't live without each other, just like the dragon and the phoenix they would always be constant in each other's lives.

Because that was just how they worked.

* * *

So what do you think? R&R and let me know your opinions :)


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